Touchless gesture control based on camera capture requires that the camera is either always turned on and continuously analyses gestures in front of the camera to determine if the gesture is for controlling the device or for another purpose. Alternatively the device is manually turned on to receive touchless input.
If the camera is always switched on it draws a lot of power, which is highly unsuitable for a portable device, such as a mobile communications terminal for example a smartphone or a tablet computer, running on battery power. It is also damaging to the environment as power is used even when not necessarily needed.
To overcome these problems, some portable devices enable the user to manually switch on the camera when needed. This requires manual hands-on operation which is in contrast to the concept of touchless interaction.
There is thus a need for an improved manner of initiating touchless control that does not consume power and which is in line with touchless control.